NO NEVER DO THAT LOL. You can do it but it wears out your clutch for nothing. At a red light, keep it in neutral with the brakes on or in first clutch fully in, brakes on, then have faith that in one and a half seconds you will move your right foot brake to gas and medium speed smoothly let the clutch out at the same time both feet.

 

Oh and one more thing. Especially for the first few weeks, be careful shifting. Being a 6 speed, it's easy to put it in the wrong gear, so be careful getting on it through the gears. If you accidently punch it from 2nd to first instead of 2nd to 3rd you could really damage things or 4-3 instead of 4-5 so be careful not to break it while you learn to drive it.
Also for the clutch, basically never leave the clutch halfway. It should be full in, full out, our moving one way or another. NEVER hold the clutch half way to hold your position somewhere.

 

A good test for a clutch is to do the 40mph 6th gear WOT attempt. At 40 mph, shift into 6th and FLOOR it. If the clutch can't hold, the rpm will jump up. If not, the engine will bog (not stall, just feel like its not accelerating despite being floored).

The shifter will want to move it self to center naturally, so feel for that. Add tension from the right pushing to the drivers side in order to select 1st and 2nd gears. No tension from the sides gives you 3rd and 4th gear, and finally add tension from the left pushing to the passenger side to select 5th and 6th gears. Try not to practice downshifting when test driving cars.

As a habit of mine when I want to check if I'm in neutral, I push on the shifter to the left twice, if I have movement then I sub-consciously know I'm in neutral.

I have both an A4 and M6, while my A4 is in a thirdgen camaro, my m6 is tied to my 98 z28. My A4 will take the 98 off the line everytime, but the ls1 rowing through the gears will eat it alive anyday after that.

The m6 is a lot more fun to drive everyday except in stop and go traffic.

 

go get a rent a car with a stick over the weekend & learn on it???

 

As far as when I said hold it at teh friction point, I ment slightly below it, like let her back up the the friction point, then push it back in a tad, that way you can take off faster, least thats what I do.

 

6-speed is definatly nice... i also know where there is a nice one for sale....

Dan

 

I bought the limited warranty from GM which covers drive train and some parts..its worth it cause my tranny died 10 hours later and Dealer replaced pressure plate, clutch, throw out, pilot bearings, slave cylinder with no cost to me

 

Biggest mistake i've seen by people trying to drive a stick....

Right when they are creeping the clutch out, and the car starts moving, they dump it the rest of the way for a nice violent jolt. Creep that bitch untill your foot comes off of it, no matter how fast its going. Just becaue the car is moving doesnt mean it is fully engaged!

Dont be afraid to give her some gas either! I see too many people trying to feather out for their first time only using 1300 rpms. Give that baby some throttle! 3k rpms and its pretty hard to kill it. Feather the clutch to controll your speed. By keeping the RPMS up, you're insuring yourself that you have enough grunt, now all you have to worry about is being smooth with your left foot. Its less stuff on your mind


If you really want a 6 speed car, get one. Dont let these people talk you out of it. It is true that a built automatic with a stall can be deadly as far as ET's go at the track, and that the 6-speed is the most parts trashing piece of equipment ever put in an automobile, but i love being part of the action.

I do think its a good idea to be informed that the ole' "awww its just a little ole' automatic car!" doesnt fly in the ls1 world, but theres more too it. If i wanted a car that was ***** out fast, i would build a fox mustang with a SBF, but thats not all i want.

 

I do the same thing, nobody wants to start from the floor and find their friction point when the light turns green! I'm ready to get the hell out of the way! I may sit in neutral untill the light is about to turn green, THEN find the sweet spot, but i never come from off the floor after the light turns.



We can sit and preach about how to drive a stick for hours, but you can't learn to do it untill you do it.

Slam shifting takes alot of practice, it takes careful timing most of all. If you want to see a professional in action, check out the videos link in my sig

When shifting 1-2, you can pull at sort of an angle toward the seat belt buckle, it defiantly can't go left anymore, so it really has no choice but to go to second. For third gear, push toward the middle A/C controll at an angle. For 4th, i like to roll my hand off the side after the 2-3 shift so that my thumb points down. This prevents you from the dreaded 3-2 shift, which has claimed countless pushrods

 

Whatever happens, at least think about the mechanics of it before and while you drive it. A clutch is basically a spinning disk brake (not in shape, but in concept). Any time you are making the two power transfer surfaces rub each other, you are making ALOT of heat and wear, especially with well over 300hp!!! So any time you can avoid slipping the clutch in your daily driving saves alot of normal wear that's all. Now if you're tire roasting then there are many slipping techniques that can be useful, but you are also wearing your clutch out much faster.

 

i bought my m6 and learned how to drive a stick on a ls1 my clutch went out not long after, and having no manual experience i could still tell. good luck with your purchase.

 

When i'm holdin the clutch right below the friction point. It's only so i dont have to search for it after the light turns green, i save myself a second or so. I dont sit in traffic like this for hours on end!

The friction point DOES cause the disk to "rub" the flywheel/PP, this is why you depress a slight bit more to minimize the rubbing, yet let yourself be prepared for when you need to get things moving. Its more of a way of letting your foot know right where that point will be when the clutch starts grabbing.

 

I doubt it's any faster. Your way works, for sure. Keep doing it if you like. I'm just telling you, whether in your mind its a little or a lost faster wearing the clutch out, that is how you wear the clutch out faster. Me and my engineer buddies at work are always laughing about wives wearing out clutches and breaking transmissions, and it's generally by doing stuff like that.

 

All the girls I know pop it into N while at lights so their "legs don't get sore"

 

Ok, lets examine. We have points A B C. Is it faster to get to C from A or B? I'm saying that out of the blue, finding the friction point comes faster if you KNOW that it is RIGHT above where your foot is currently at, rather than a few inches from where it would be if your foot is on the floor.

Me and my engineeing SELF thinks that sitting at a light with the clutch slipping on itself constantly WILL decrease the life. There is NO debate over this. The whole holding it BELOW the friction point will stop/minimize this.

I'm also thinking that driving to the track and doing bunch of 4500rpm clutch dumps is going to be the deciding factor in the life of my spec3, not my effort to move the hell out of peoples way faster and drive my car smoother.

 

you got me with your alphabet math....uncle. I guess I'll start slipping my clutch every time I shift from now on even though it's like fingernails on a chalkboard when I watch other people slip the clutch to stay stopped instead of using the brake or leave the clutch half way in sixty feet up the street, but what do I know.

 

You're missing the entire concept here, otherwise you would have no argument. Go back and re-read a few times.

Holding the clutch JUST BELOW THE FRICTION POINT means that there is no friction. Which means it is NOT SLIPPING. This is pertaining to starting from zero. Not shifting. Is it becoming more clear nephew?


Seriously, are you messing with me or somthing?

 

This is my recommendation to a newb, if you want to do something different, feel free that's all. I'm just trying to help. If you don't think you need the advice, don't take it.

 

I'm curious though blur...are you talking on level ground here? If your left foot has the clutch half way in, is your right foot on the gas or on the brake? If it's on the brake then it doesn't make much sense to have the clutch anywhere but fully disengaged. If your right foot is on the gas and you are not on level ground, then you are holding the car in a stopped position using the clutch which is FRYING your clutch. In the 1% of the time that you are sitting stopped on perfectly level ground, and you have the clutch halfway in and your right foot is doing nothing, then though it is useless, it probably wont hurt much except for to reinforce your bad habit. Seriously, what exact situation ARE you talking about here, what is your right foot and car doing while you are riding your clutch half way so effectively?

 

what do you mean level ground shooter jay??